


Gonna Stay Here Kissing All of Your Tattoos

by Lyoung_50



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Because the world needs more tattoo care, Fluff, M/M, Mild Angst, Nervous Alec, Rune Aftercare, Tattoo Care, loving magnus, shameless self-indulgence after my newest tattoo runes, sue me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 04:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20129491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyoung_50/pseuds/Lyoung_50
Summary: The simple act of his fingers rubbing the balm along his runes centered him. Calmed him. It was like smoothing out the edges that he felt like he was made of during the day when people asked so much of him.Alec would inhale the familiar scent of the small tin, dip his fingers into it, and begin on his left forearm. The whole process took longer than he was sure it should, but he didn’t rush it.Not ever.





	Gonna Stay Here Kissing All of Your Tattoos

He didn’t know that it was something any other shadowhunter did, but it was something that he couldn’t bring himself to sleep without doing. He’d tried more than once to just push through the scratching at the back of his mind and crawl into bed without doing it, but he just…couldn’t. He’d wake up in a panic if he tried to skip the ritual and wound up in front of his bathroom mirror at one in the morning more than once, covered in cold sweat and scrubbing at his skin. 

The simple act of his fingers rubbing the balm along his runes centered him. Calmed him. It was like smoothing out the edges that he felt like he was made of during the day when people asked so much of him. 

Alec would inhale the familiar scent of the small tin, dip his fingers into it, and begin on his left forearm. The whole process took longer than he was sure it should, but he didn’t rush it. 

Not ever. 

The first time Magnus had seen him do it, he had flinched and stammered a bit nervously, his hand fluttering over the battered silver tin, and his jaw working furiously to try to explain what he’d been doing. It hadn’t been easy to explain the streak of balm across his chest that he hadn’t had a chance to work into his skin. 

“You know,” He’d stated, coming to stand behind Alec with his slim, ringed fingers settling onto his bare shoulders. Alec had met his gaze easily in the mirror. “I’m rather certain that Nephilim don’t really need an aftercare routine for these. In fact, I’m sure that there’s a rune for this buried somewhere in the Gray Book.” He traced a finger over the rune that curled over Alec’s shoulder blade, sending a shudder through him. 

“I,” He sucked in a quiet breath. “I know that. It helps me to relax…to calm down enough to sleep. If I don’t do it, they feel too sharp. Too hot. Too aggressive…angry. Too…much. They make me a weapon, but if I smooth them out, make them softer…I don’t know, it’s dumb, but I can’t stop.” His voice was barely above a whisper and it sounded rusty, like an engine starting up for the first time in a decade. 

“It’s not dumb. It makes perfect sense.” Magnus interjected, smoothing his hands around Alec’s sides, bumping over his ribs. He extended one of them, palm up, and wiggled his fingers. “May I?” 

Alec had dropped the tin into Magnus’ hand without hesitation. He let his head drop forward and breathed slowly through his nose while Magnus circled the balm into his runes. He could feel it; the process of them smoothing under skilled, patient fingers. He was almost lulled into a trance by the familiar, but completely new sensations that having someone else care for them caused. 

He was brought back to solid ground by a warm pair of lips brushing over the back of his neck, tracing the ink of his runes and the knobs of his spine under hand-warmed skin. 

“All done, Alexander.” He’d whispered softly, as if he was afraid speaking too loudly would shatter the fragile tension that was pulled taut between them. His lips had stayed pressed tight to Alec’s neck as he spoke, his arms wrapping around the solid expanse of his waist so he could link his hands over Alec’s navel. “Come to bed.” 

That was how the ritual had evolved. There hadn’t been any discussion or question about it on the nights that he’d stayed at the loft, Magnus had seen Alec going to the bathroom before bed and had followed him silently, scooping up the tin and waiting patiently for Alec to strip himself bare. 

Then, they lived together, and Alec noticed that the small silver tin that he used to have to get filled at the Shadow Market no longer grew empty, which he suspected was Magnus’ doing. He wasn’t going to complain. The less time he spent at the Shadow Market, the better. 

Each night, after they’d lounged in their living room, had a few drinks together, and changed into their respective pajama pants, Magnus would lift each of Alec’s hands, brush a kiss over each calloused palm, and then led him to the bathroom. 

He let the man that he loved so entirely and completely draw slow lines across his skin, the way eased by sesame and hemp oil with the scent of lavender that filled the air between them, and he let him write words of adoration and devotion with his fingertips that no one else in the world would ever get to read. 

Magnus took him from the sharp, precise weapon that the Institute and his parents had raised him to be and made him into the smooth, loving man that he’d always wanted to be. A loving boyfriend. Maybe, someday, a loving husband and father. 

He never had to worry about being able to sleep soundly again.

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on Tumblr: @inquisitor-lightwood-bane


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